As the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago this week, Wisconsin Watch will be on the lookout for surprising and dubious claims to check, just like we did for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month.

Dozens of prime time speeches by top Democratic Party officials will lead up to the nomination acceptance speech by Vice President Kamala Harris. The DNC hadn’t announced a full list as of Monday morning, but Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has hinted that he might get a speaking slot. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin spoke at the 2020 convention when it was held in a limited capacity in Milwaukee due to COVID and is now running for re-election, so we’ll be watching to see if she has a prime time speaking slot.

From claims about former President Donald Trump and Baldwin’s challenger, U.S. Senate Republican nominee Eric Hovde, to a variety of issues, our fact briefs have already debunked some of the claims you might hear repeated during the DNC, and affirmed others.

On Donald Trump

Many claims made at the DNC are likely to be attacks on Trump, including some we’ve fact-checked.

No, Trump did not lower taxes on billionaires and raise them on everyone else.

That claim was made by Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler.

The 2017 tax cut law signed by Trump cut income tax rates essentially across the board. For example, from 2017 to 2018, the average rate dropped from 4% to 3.4% for the bottom half of income earners and from 26.8% to 25.4% for the top 1%, according to the Tax Foundation.

No, Trump does not want to criminalize women who get an abortion.

Trump has said in the current campaign that states should decide whether, in certain instances, to prosecute women who get an abortion.

The criminalization claim was made in a TV ad featuring a Wisconsin woman by American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic super PAC, and alluded to a comment Trump made in 2016.

Yes, Trump vowed to remove peaceful protesters from the U.S.

Vice President Kamala Harris made that claim while campaigning in Eau Claire.

One of Trump’s statements, in May: “One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country.”

Yes, Trump paid millions of dollars to settle fraud lawsuits against his for-profit college.

Trump agreed after his 2016 election to pay $25 million to settle three lawsuits alleging fraud by his for-profit Trump University. He did not admit to wrongdoing.

Harris alluded to the settlement while campaigning in West Allis.

On Eric Hovde

Hovde, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012 and is challenging U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in November, has been attacked by Baldwin and her allies for things he has said. But in some cases the claims took what he said out of context.

No, Hovde did not say that farmers don’t work hard.

A Baldwin TV ad made that attack on Hovde, mischaracterizing what Hovde said in a 2012 interview when he described historical changes in U.S. occupations.

“We don’t engage in hard labor like we did, we don’t have as many accidents on the job, most of us now are involved in some type of white-collar profession, or even professions that are involved with manual labor,” Hovde said. “It’s much safer, much more protective. Think of farming. Look at the old physical toil that it would take on your body, now you’re largely driving around on a tractor.”

No, Hovde did not say most senior citizens shouldn’t vote.

The claim against Hovde was made in a TV ad by WinSenate, a liberal super PAC.

Hovde described in an interview what he claimed were voting irregularities involving Wisconsin nursing home residents in the 2020 presidential election. A partisan investigation found no evidence of malicious intent behind a few cases of mentally incompetent people voting. 

Hovde said: “If you’re in a nursing home, you only have five, six months’ life expectancy. Almost nobody in a nursing home is in a point to vote.” 

Yes, Hovde said that single parenthood leads to poverty and drug abuse, as Baldwin charged in a TV ad.

During his 2012 run, Hovde lamented the number of children “born out of wedlock,” saying it is “a direct path to a life of poverty. There’s been numerous studies that show that it leads to higher drug rates.”

No, Hovde is not “100% anti-choice” on abortion.

Hovde said in 2012 he was totally opposed to abortion rights, but has changed his position, contradicting a claim that Baldwin made in an interview.

Hovde said in February he supports exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. In April, he said that “women, early on in a pregnancy, should have a right to make a choice.” And he said that Wisconsin voters should decide when in a pregnancy abortion should be illegal.

Other issues

Yes, about 90% of Americans support access to contraception.

As Baldwin claimed, some 91% of registered voters said in a national poll released in June that birth control should be legal (73% said they feel strongly, 18% said somewhat strongly).

Democrats in June advanced a bill to safeguard access to contraceptives, but it fell short in the Senate.

Yes, Joe Biden appointed more Black women as federal appeals court judges than all previous presidents combined.

Thirteen of the 21 African American women who have served on the U.S. Courts of Appeals were nominated by Biden. He also nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Yes, Medicaid expansion in states improved health outcomes.

Studies have shown that Medicaid expansion, funded and made optional to states through the Affordable Care Act, leads to improved health outcomes. For example, one study found a significant reduction in mortality in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility.

Here are some of the claims you might hear at the DNC this week — and the facts is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.